Kristen Bell recovers after People's Choice Awards teleprompter fail

Kristen Bell was picked to introduce and honor Tyler Perry with the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Humanitarian on Wednesday night. But during her speech at the Los Angeles ceremony, Bell encountered technical difficulties.

“One small good gesture has the capacity to ripple change. Tyler has rebuilt homes, erected churches, repaired schools. The list of his good deeds goes on and on — we don’t have time to mention them all. With this guardian angel by our side—” she said, followed by a long pause. “Oops, the teleprompter has gone out! But I suppose I can finish. With this guardian angel by our side, I think we’re all incredibly grateful to have someone like him that can teach us to grow and give back as the example.”

After a video spot aired highlighting some of Perry’s efforts — such as taking a family to buy a new car after theirs was stolen and donating money to a soccer team after their funds were stolen — Bell retook the stage and opened up about using the prompter.

“I feel like just a moment ago I really pulled the curtain and showed some vulnerability,” she said. “I was, in fact, using a teleprompter, and I’m embarrassed that I didn’t memorize it.”

She continued, “To my credit, there were way too many things to memorize. The good deeds of Tyler Perry were literally — and I’ve memorized a lot of dialogue — I couldn’t do it. I had to use the prompter, so I hope you’ll cut me some slack.”

“What I have found, and what is so important to me right now,” he said, “is that as I look at the state of the world and the state of our country and everything that is going on, it is so important that we know no matter how dark it gets, we all have to be light for each other.”